


Gestr

by Nxrdist



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Light Flirting, Pre-ship, mixed messages all over the place, slow burn drabbles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27906253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nxrdist/pseuds/Nxrdist
Summary: After her quest with Tarben, Eivør spends some time at the docks thinking things through. Hytham intrudes.Follow up to my previous Eivør/Hytham short called A Growing Friendship.
Relationships: Eivor/Hytham (Assassin's Creed), Eivør/ Hytham (Assassin's Creed)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54





	Gestr

**Author's Note:**

> This will likely become a collection of shorts over time. I just love these two so much and was so glad to find I'm not the only one!  
> p.s. Gestr supposedly means stranger in old norse

On the dock, Eivør lay spread-eagled on her back with her feet dangling over the wooden edge. Her eyes were closed against the harsh mid-day sun breathing evenly and lazily petting Silfrormr’s most recent addition -an orange tabby she’d called Tyr. Lowly, Eivør murmured to the cat about her latest adventure with the baker. He purred happily, as was becoming his habit, while she spoke and scratched under his chin. It felt good to be able to air her thoughts to someone without comment or judgment, especially with Dag’s increasingly hostile attitude and Randvi’s long looks. 

The nearby sound of steps on planks caused Eivør to cease her murmurs though as someone approached. A moment later, there was a presence, a rustle of cloth, and the newcomer seated themself beside her. She assumed as much based on Tyr having turned his head to face where the sound had come from. Even for a cat, his air of annoyance was palpable as Eivør had unknowingly paused in her scratching of his chin. An amused expression crept across her face as she imagined the sour look Tyr was fixing the intruder with just then. 

“Speaking to animals now are you?” Hytham’s tone was teasing. 

She cracked one eye open still grinning. “Of course, my new friend Tyr is very wise. “ 

He nodded in agreement and reached out to scratch behind Tyr’s ears as he spoke. “The creatures of this Earth do often hold hidden wisdom. What has he been telling you?” 

Eivør’s eyes slid closed again, and she hummed as if debating whether to share a great secret. She stroked Tyr again under his chin and he purred happily at being the center of attention. 

“Only that he wishes me to stop lazing about and catch him some fish for dinner.” 

Hytham chuckled at that. “Shall I join you?” 

Looking up to gaze at him, Eivør saw an unreadable look in his eye. Hytham was ever difficult for her to read since his slip up back Norway -when she had called him out for looking annoyed. In a way, it was nice though not to have to watch his thoughts or feelings play out across his face like some of her more emotive friends and acquaintances. Eivør didn’t feel burdened by expectations from him like she often did from others. 

“If you can stand to be away from your books that long. I know they will miss their dearest friend.” 

He snorted. “I am sure they will manage it.” 

She smiled at Hytham before turning to speak to the cat. “What do you think Tyr? Shall we catch you some dinner?” 

Tyr gave a long stretch and a yawn, rolling onto his back, and kneading the air. 

“I suppose that’s all the approval we’ll get.” Eivør chuckled. 

Hytham followed her over to a nearby basket where she fetched out two fishing ropes. Passing one to him, their fingers brushed briefly and Eivør noted the calloused texture of his fingertips. He took the rope with a nod of thanks then they both headed back toward the end of the dock. 

Despite being tethered to Ravensthorpe it seemed the Hidden One still kept up his training since his injury had healed. At the time of Basim’s departure with Sigurd, she’d thought it unkind for his mentor to instruct Hytham to stay behind, but now Eivør saw he would not be defeated so easily. Hytham had not surrendered to his injury or being left to toil over many large tomes -though she very much suspected he enjoyed the latter- and she admired him for it. She could not imagine how it would be to be confined to a single place for a lengthy period -and it had been over a year now since their arrival in Mercia. 

Thinking of such things brought her back to thoughts of her most recent journey. He had come to them claiming to be a baker but had truly been a former bandit on the run from his old gang. After aiding him in clearing the debt Wilf claimed Tarben owed, Eivør supposed she could see the longing many had to settle without the need to travel. His happiness had been so plain when she had told him there was no reason he should not stay in the settlement. 

“You are deep in thought.” Hytham’s comment broke Eivør’s trance.

She turned slightly to look at him. While she’d been caught up in her mind he must have baited his hook and tossed it out because he was looking idly at it bobbing in the water before them. 

“Does something trouble you?” He asked gently. 

“No. I was carried away I suppose.” 

Hytham nodded. “I am often the same. One thought or theory leads to the next and before I know it my mind has run away with me.” He paused, then inquired. “Your recent travels perhaps?” 

Eivør arched an eyebrow at him. “You truly do have eyes and ears everywhere do you not?” 

He chuckled. “Forgive me. I did not mean to intrude. I do what I can to keep tabs on the new arrivals here -to ensure there is no trouble for you and Sigurd of course. I saw you speak with the new arrivals after Telka’s recent robbery.”

His reply was innocent, but Eivør had heard how Hytham spoke of the Order he worked against. She suspected that his keen ear for news in the village was not only for the benefit of it's inhabitants; though, she supposed keeping this Order away was just that. And so she did not comment on it. Instead Eivør simply answered. “Tarben.” 

“Tarben?” Hytham questioned.

“Tarben the barker.”

“Is he?” Hytham asked, sounding curious. 

Eivør shrugged. “He is now.” 

“Thanks to you I assume?” 

“Partly, I suppose. It was his own ambition. One I only aided in ensuring he could pursue.” 

“This is good, no? A barker is a boon to the settlement.” Hytham reasoned.

“You are correct.” 

“Though forgive me for saying but you seem troubled.” 

Eivør paused unsure how to respond. After all, Hytham was correct in his observations and she was indeed troubled. The look of admiration Tarben had given her at the conclusion of their quest had held more. In his eyes was a longing when he had embraced her in thanks of her aid. When Hytham had approached it was that which she'd been speaking to Tyr of; an issue she was not yet ready to confront considering her conflicted feelings, so Eivør elected to change the subject. 

“You know this is the longest we have spoken in some time.” 

Hytham caught on to her redirection, but chose to let it lie. “It is...”

She smiled and commented mildly. "I think I like you better away from those books."

He turned to smile back, but a sudden tug on his line demanded his attention. Eivør watched Hytham struggle little with the line as he hooked and reeled the fish in. Only minutes later he plopped a large trout into the waiting basket behind them and Eivør could not help herself from laughing.

"What?" He asked, brow furrowed in his confusion.

She was still chuckling when she answered. "I did not take you for a fishermen!"

Hytham shook his head in amusement. 

"Now I wonder what other talents you hide  _ gestr. _ "

At Eivør's tone a slight flush grew in Hytham's cheeks and he did not meet her eyes. After a pregnant pause in which she feared her teasing had gone too far, he finally replied.

"It is our way to have many skills."

His tone betrayed nothing of his reaction. Eivør arched her brow. She was unable to restrain the teasing tone that persisted in her words.

"Is that so?" 

He nodded affirmatively.

"Perhaps I shall learn more of them over time?" She ventured.

Behind her mind's eye, Eivør saw Tarben's look of longing and wondered if the same expression had ever been her own when regarding her friend. Seeing it had brought Hytham to the forefront of her thoughts which had seemed strange at the time, but perhaps it was not. Her crew and Randvi not withstanding, he was one of the few others she spent much of her free time with in the settlement. Still it was odd to think of him so suddenly when faced with the clear affactions of another. 

"If you would like to?" he replied.

Hytham's clear eyes pierced through Eivør's thoughts and drew her back. It took a moment for his words to sink in and when they did she smiled. His expression was untroubled by her teasing or the implcations of it. If anything she thought there might have been a flicker of intrigue there within his eyes. Feeling relieved, Eivør gave a short laugh which shattered the possible moment just as much as her following words.

"If they are anything like you leap of faith then perhaps another time! We have some fish to cook just now I should think."

The intrigue, if it had not been her imagination, went out just then as Hytham nodded his agreement. 

"Yes of course. I am sure your clever friend is quite hungry by now."

As they headed off from the docks with Tyr in tow, Eivør felt a twist of regret in her chest wondering what would have happened had she responded differently. For his part, Hytham felt a tad confused by the vikingr's behavior toward him as of late. One moment she teased hinting at something more than their friendship only to make a perfectly friendly joke the next. He had learned quickly it was the nature of the Norse to be a fliratious and friendly people. 

So, he had not taken Eivør's teasing to heart at first. However, as he grew to know her it began to feel different. Observing her interactions with others, Hytham grew to wonder if it was the result of her people's customs or not. Uncertainty had stayed his tongue to responding in kind until he had seen her with the baker not a few days before. This man was certainly interested in her, but from his vantage point he had been unable to see Eivør's reaction. Hytham could blame nothing else for his reaction to her teasing. A part of him had wanted to see whether or not she would deflect him if he reciproated her implications. And now he was more confused than before.


End file.
